Propelling and steering means for boats

ABSTRACT

A manually operated propelling and steering means for boats comprising a manually operated rotatable member which when rotated will through gears rotate a flexible shaft and a propeller for propelling the boat and including a manually operated steering member which rotates a rotatable housing within which is positioned the flexible shaft to position the propeller to steer the boat.

United States Patent [1 1 Lay [ 1 July 24, 1973 PROPELLING AND STEERING MEANS FOR BOATS {76] Inventor: Willard E. Lay, 1810 N. Monitor Ave., Chicago, Ill.

[22] Filed: Apr. 1, 1971 [211 App]. No.: 130,102

[52] US. Cl 115/18, 115/24, 115/35 [51] Int. Cl B63h 16/14 [58] Field of Search 115/24, 18, 35; 114/170; 188/83 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,078,748 11/1913 Poage 115/18 1,372,327 3/1921 Young 2,099,544 11/1937 Strezoff 115/35 3,596,624 8/1971 Lay 115/18 2,172,401 9/1939 Nelson 115/24 2,273,815 2/1942 Bevington 115/24 Primary Examiner-Milton Buchler Assistant Examiner-R. Reese Attorney-Max R. Kraus [57] ABSTRACT A manually operated propelling and steering means for boats comprising a manually operated rotatable member which when rotated will through gears rotate a flexible shaft and a propeller for propelling the boat and including a manually operated steering member which rotates a rotatable housing within which is positioned the flexible shaft to position the propeller to steer the boat.

3 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures PATENTED SHEET 1 BF 2 FIG. 1

1 FIG. 5

PROPELLING AND STEERING MEANS FOR BOATS BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The object of this invention is to provide a manually operated propelling and steering means for a boat which is economical to produce and which is easy to operate.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the invention attached to the rear of a boat.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view partly in section showing the device of this invention.

FIG. 3 is a back view of the upper portion with a portion of the covering plate broken away.

FIG. 4 is a central sectional view of the upper portion of the unit taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 is a view taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

As exemplified in the drawings, the device, generally indicated at 10, comprises a stationary main housing, generally indicated at 12, made preferably of aluminum, which housing is of an elongated configuration and has an upper portion 14 and a lower portion 16 which is of generally rectangular configuration. The upper portion 14 of the main housing is rounded at the upper end thereof as at 17 and is provided with a rear opening 18 which is closed by a closure plate 20 secured by means of fastening elements 21 to the upper portion of the main housing. The upper portion of the housing forms a compartment 22 for housing the gears for rotating the propeller. The upper portion 14 of the main housing has a rearwardly extending boss 24 which receives a rotatable shaft 26, the front end of said shaft extending into the interior of the compartment 22 and the opposite end of said shaft extending rearwardly of the boss 24.

A crank handle 28 having a hollow bore at the upper end is received on the rear end of the shaft 26 and is fixedly secured thereto by a fastening element 29 so that rotation of the crank handle 28 will rotate the shaft 26 and the bevel gear 30 fixedly secured thereto. The large bevel gear 30 has a boss 31 and said gear is mounted on the inner end of the shaft 26 and is fixed to rotate with said shaft by means of a fastening element 32. The bevel gear 30 is positioned in the compartment 22 of the housing in a vertical position for engagement with a bevel pinion 34 having a boss 35.

The main housing has a horizontal upper wall 36 pro vided with an annular bore 37 which receives a bushing or collar 38 having an annular head 39 which rests on the top of the horizontal wall 36. The lower end of said horizontal wall 36 has an enlarged recess 40 providing a shoulder 42 and said enlarged recess receives the upper end of a manually rotatable shaft housing generally indicated at 44. A rigid drive shaft 46 is rotatably received in the bushing or collar 38 and said shaft extends upwardly into the upper housing compartment 22, as best seen in FIG. 4.

The bevel pinion 34 with its boss 35 is mounted on the upper end of shaft 46 and is fixedly secured thereto by a fastening element 48 so that rotation of said bevel pinion 34 by the bevel gear 30 will rotate the rigid drive shaft 46. The boss 35 of pinion 34 rests on the head 39 of the bushing 38.

A portion of the manually rotatable shaft housing 44 is positioned in the interior of the main housing 12 and the lower portion of the shaft housing extends below the main housing 12 through an annular opening 50 in the bottom of the main housing 12 and extends downwardly thereof. The lower end of the rotatable shaft housing 44 is bent or curved as at 52 so that the bottom end 54 of the rotatable shaft housing 44 is substantially at right angles to the vertical axis of the shaft housing.

The stationary main housing 12 is provided in the interior thereof with a horizontal wall 56 having an annular opening 57 which receives the rotatable shaft housing 44. The horizontal wall 56 extends forwardly of the main housing 12 to form an arm or support generally indicated at 58 which comprises a horizontal flat surface 59 and spaced downwardly extending vertical side walls 60. The front portion of the main housing 12 is open above and below the laterally extending arm or support 58 and the upper opening is closed by a closure plate 62 secured to the housing by means of fastening screws 63 and the lower opening of the stationary housing 12 is closed by another closure plate 64 likewise secured by fastening screws to the housing so that access to the interior of said stationary main housing 12 is possible by removal of said closure plates 62 and 64.

As best seen in FIG. 4, the upper front closure plate 62 terminates short of the laterally extending arm 58 to provide a space 66 to accommodate the steering means, presently to be described. Supported on the manually rotatable shaft housing 44 is a gear toothed member 68 which is fixedly secured to the shaft housing 44 by a fastening screw 69. The gear toothed member 68 has a plurality of gear teeth 70 which are alined with the opening 66.

Supported on the arm 58 is a manually operable handle member generally indicated at 72 which is provided with a cup-shaped portion 73 and a forwardly extending handle 74 all integrally formed. A portion of the cup-shaped member is provided with gear teeth 75, best shown in FIG. 5, which are in mesh with the gear teeth 70 on the gear toothed member 68 secured to the rotatable shaft housing 44. The bottom of the cupshaped member 73 of the manually operable handle member 72 is provided with a central opening 76. A bolt '77 having a head 78 at the upper end and a reduced threaded shank 79 forming a shoulder 80 is positioned in said cup-shaped member with a coil spring 82 surrounding the bolt, with one end of the spring resting against the bottom of the cup-shaped member and the upper end of the spring resting against a washer 83 ad jacent the head of the bolt to confine the spring within the cup. A fiber washer 84 which serves as a friction clutch and has a central opening 85 is positioned on the arm 58. The lower portion of the bolt 77 extends through the opening 76 of the cup and through the opening 85 in the friction clutch washer 84. The shoulder 80 of the bolt rests on and engages the arm 58. The threaded shank 79 of the bolt extends through a suitable opening 86 in the arm 58 and is secured in position by means of a nut 87. The fiber washer 84 is positioned between the bottom of the cup 73 and the arm 58 which are of metal.

The structure just described serves as a friction clutch to hold the manually rotatable shaft housing 44 in position after it has been rotated to the desired steering position. By manually rotating the steering handle 72 the gear means 75 on the cup 73 will rotate the toothed gear member 68 fixed to the rotatable shaft housing 44 to rotate the shaft housing 44 to the desired steering position to thereby position the propeller, to be described, in a proper steering position. The propeller will remain set in its proper steering position by reason of the friction clutch means described until the steering handle 72 is again manually manipulated. The vibration and the back pressure which might be due to the action of the rotating propeller will not change the steered position of the propeller.

The spaced side walls 60 of the supporting arm 58 are provided with alined openings 87 which receive a pin or bolt 88 extending therethrough and in engagement with a clamping member generally designated by the numeral 89, whereby the unit may be clamped to a boat and pivotally supported on said boat. The clamping member 89 comprises an inclined rear wall 90 having at the lower end thereof a rearwardly extending horizontal lip 91, a forwardly extending top wall 92 and a front wall 93 which is provided with downwardly spaced extensions 94 at the opposite ends of the front wall. The rear wall 90 is inclined with respect to the vertical and the lip 91 will engage the cover plate of the stationary housing so that when the unit is clamped to the rear of the boat the lower portion or propeller end of the unit will be inclined rearwardly away and outwardly of the boat. Each of the extensions 94 has an internally threaded bore to receive a clamping screw 95, the inner end of said clamping screw having a clamping plate and the outer end of the screw receiving a slidable pin for manually rotating said clamping screw 95 to clamping and unclamping position.

Extending upwardly of the top wall of the clamping member is a pair of spaced ears 96 which are positioned exteriorly of the sides 60 of the forwardly extending arm 58 and the ears have alined openings through which the pin 97 extends so that the unit is pivotally supported with respect to the clamping member. The clamping screws 95 engage the rear of the boat B, as best shown in FIG. 4, to clamp the unit to the boat, with the unit extending exteriorly and rearwardly of the boat. In this position the crank handle 28 for driving the propeller and the steering handle 72 for rotating the rotatable shaft housing 44 face inwardly into the boat so that same may be manipulated by the person in the boat.

The rigid rotatable drive shaft 46 extends into the vertical portion of the rotatable shaft housing 44 but is spaced from the interior wall thereof. Secured to the lower end of the drive shaft 46 by means of a coupling member 98, best shown in FIG. 2, is a flexible shaft or cable 99 which extends inside the lower bend 52 of the shaft housing and into the horizontal portion 54 of the shaft housing. The opposite end of the flexible shaft 99 isconnected as at 100 by soldering or by an epoxy glue or cement to the cup-shaped end 101 of the propeller shaft 102. The propeller 104 has a boss 106 which in turn is secured to the propeller shaft 102 by a suitable fastening member. The propeller shaft 102 extends through a busing 107 which is externally threaded. An internally threaded coupling sleeve 108 is in turn threadedly connected to the externally threaded bushing 107 and to the external threads 109 on the end of the rotatable shaft housing 44, as best seen at the lower end of FIG. 2.

OPERATION With the unit clamped to the boat, the boat is propelled by the operator manually rotating the crank handle 28 which in turn rotates the gears 30 and 34 to rotate the rigid drive shaft 46 and the flexible shaft 99, which in turn rotates the propeller 104. Steering is accomplished by the operator moving the handle 72 which through the teeth 75 on the handle and the teeth on the member 68 which is fixedly attached to the manually rotatable shaft housing 44 will rotate said rotatable housing in either direction to position the propeller, including the shaft housing, in proper position for steering. If it is desired to bring the propeller out of the water, the entire unit is pivoted forwardly on the pivot pin 88.

What is claimed is:

1 A manually operated propelling and steering device for boats comprising in combination a stationary main housing and a manually rotatable housing having a generally L-shaped configuration, a pair of meshing gears supported in said main housing, a manually operated crank handle fixedly secured to one of said gears, said crank handle rotating in a plane extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of said stationary housing and being manually rotatable about a horizontal axis to rotate said first gear and thereby rotate said second gear, shaft means connected to said second gear to be rotated thereby, a propeller connected to said shaft means to propel the boat, said shaft means supported in said rotatable housing, a steering mechanism including a manually operated steering member having teeth, teeth means connected to said manually rotatable housing and engaged by the teeth of said manually operated steering member to rotate said manually rotatable housing for positioning the propeller blade to steer the boat, said manually operated steering member and said crank handle being positioned so as not to interfere with each other when the crank handle is rotated, said manually operated steering means having friction means for maintaining said manually operated steering member in its adjusted steering position until again manually operated.

2. A structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the manually operated steering member includes a cupshaped member within which is contained a spring acting against a bolt which applies pressure to maintain the steering member in frictional contact with its supporting surface.

3. A structure as set forth in claim 1 in which a rigid shaft is fixedly secured to one of said gears which is manually rotatable and in which said shaft extends through said main housing and through a portion of said manually rotatable housing and in which a flexible shaft is connected to the lower end of said rigid shaft with the opposite end of the flexible shaft connected to the propeller for rotating said propeller when said rigid shaft and said flexible shaft are rotated by said pair of gears. 

2. A structure as set forth in claim 1 in which the manually operated steering member includes a cup-shaped member within which is contained a spring acting against a bolt which applies pressure to maintain the steering member in frictional contact with its supporting surface.
 3. A structure as set forth in claim 1 in which a rigid shaft is fixedly secured to one of said gears which is manually rotatable and in which said shaft extends through said main housing and through a portion of said manually rotatable housing and in which a flexible shaft is connected to the lower end of said rigid shaft with the opposite end of the flexible shaft connected to the propeller for rotating said propeller when said rigid shaft and said flexible shaft are rotated by said pair of gears. 